Chapter Text
In a quiet and well-structured neighborhood located at the edge of the queendom of roses inner city, an open sea can be seen just a few minutes walks away and surrounded by mild forestry mold. This lowkey but exquisite environment into an excellent site for families bonding or maybe, just releasing the pent-up stress that the world gave you as an adult. Accessible by train, with the train station just at the corner of the sightseeing zone and not disturbing the inhabitant residing there with noise pollution, are just adding more extras to the countless benefits this place can offer you.
Be it for vacation only or permanent residency, this lush, green-filled scenery and the smell of nature would be the perfect place for any kind of outdoor activities, even just breathing the fresh air here would make you relaxed from worldly matters. Of course, such ideal locations are not just your average suburban neighborhood. Despite the seemingly modest houses and plain-clothed inhabitants, this site is one of the high-end and high-priced communities in the country. What one might not expect is how such a peaceful environment might produce what could be the most sought-out after person in the world…
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In one of the houses inside the area, a petite young boy can be seen scampering amidst the afternoon scattering sunlight illuminating from the vintage windows and beautifully crafted ventilation holes build around the simple and well-kept mansion. He’s seemingly attempting to be secretive about his exploration toward a room in one corner of the second floor. When he finally arrived at his destination, he slowly and carefully pushed the light-colored door. Trying to control the windchimes hanging on the door so as not to produce any kind of noise in the tranquil environment, the young boy finally succeeds in completing his little mission.
After he’s satisfied with the result of his efforts, the boy did a little leap toward the room interior making his cute twin cowlick bounce adorably with every step he took. His eyes sparkled with delight. Thus, he surveyed the room like a thief searching for valuables. His eyes locked on the baby crib found near a round window at the corner of the room. As though he had just found a great treasure, he very carefully approaches it as if the crib would suddenly run away if he were not being sneaky enough.
*Tap* *tap* *tap*
Woken up by the sounds of soft footsteps and the feeling of motion nearing him, Cale’s consciousness starts to clear up from his hazy state of mind. Just when Cale managed to open his heavy eyes, he was greeted with a pair of huge shining bluish grey eyes looking at him.
‘WHAT THE FU-’
Small beady eyes blown wide, tender face reddens from suffocation, sweats pouring into the cloth bundle like an unclogged faucet, little mouth gaping intervally trying to suck more air into the body, hoping that oxygen can be ingested once more. Even the ‘thing’ notices that something is wrong. His eyes darting around everywhere, trying to find a way to solve this current predicament, caused by his own undoing. Cale hopes that whatever happens here won’t be an everlasting memory for whoever is in front of him.
Just a moment away from a complete blackout and on the way to commit another deicide, Cale’s heart thankfully still has the will to fight. His baby doe eyes slackened shut, face seemingly un-swayed by everything, returning to the emotionless expression he dons before. It’s just like this man in a baby’s body hasn’t experienced a possibly fatal heart attack a while ago.
‘God damn it, all of you. What kind of ‘strong body’ is this shit, I swear I can still feel my heartbeats stop working for a good 5 seconds back then, you piece of sh-‘
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After dozens of seconds of awkward silence, with Cale catching his breath and trying to calm whoever or whatever it is in front of him in with his blurred stare (he can hear the hiccups and snots inhaling even though this ‘something’ tried to be secretive about it). He finally felt he had successfully swum a shore from that bastard of a god-stupid river. Cale was grateful for once to the experience he has as Kim Rok Soo. The abomination just now nearly made him go headfirst into another reincarnation yet again, if he had any in the first place. Suppose he had no prior experience beforehand with countless ‘surprise visits’ from visitors you do not wish to acknowledge, welcome, or even see. In that case, his heartbeats will definitely stop beating, permanently, just because it cannot stand the shock.
The jump scares just now had his tear gland finally suddenly reacting. The next thing he knows, loud cries unique to a baby and wet tears is all the thing that fills up his five senses.
‘… Do baby cries this easily? Well, to be fair I am absent during the time of the kids’ infant phase. And there are no new additions to our family when I still around…’
After the forever oblivious Cale snaps up from his still muddled thought (and mini heart attack), he realizes that the ‘thing’ he saw is just a 2-centimeter away close-up version of a toddler’s face. The child has a cutely adorable face that might be mistaken for a girl if not for the way he, or rather his parents dressed him. Donning a moderately adjusted suspenders with a neatly buttoned collared white dress shirt, too neat in fact, that it looks like whoever is in charge of the boy’s clothing might have a chronic OCD.
Cale can guess how scarred the boy must have been from the way he looks. Frozen stiff, confused, with no idea to where put his hand and swollen red face because how much he has been crying. He did raised 3 children back then. He has his own o’meter to scale how terrified they are, or whether they fake it to achieve something from him (either way he just grants whatever it is. Over time, he has no place left to spend the money except for charities, so might as well spend it on them)
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With the crisis averted without both of them doing anything, now both the red-haired boy and Cale are staring at each other in silence. While each trying to contain their own tears from dripping anymore, Cale acutely notices the phone call noises that had become their starring contest background music earlier have now ceased to silence. The sounds are now being replaced by the clunking of an adult women’s heels that seem to move towards the room they are in.
A few seconds later, seemingly catching the same noises as him, the boy was evidently more emotionally stressed than before. He could even cosplay as a potato with how much scrunched up his face right now. As the footsteps grow near, it finally stops before the room’s door.
In no time, he finally sees the owner of those footsteps. It was a beautiful and dignified woman, though despite of her restrained bearing, Cale can’t help but feel that there was an aura of a tyrant overflowing from the elegantly dressed women. Her facial features are somewhat similar to those of the toddler. Then as she was getting closer to his crib, he notices that the woman dons a distinguishing pristine white lab coat particular to scientists and doctors. Inside is a red formal outfit consisted of carmine red shirt paired with matching knee-length skirt followed by a soot black corset belt coiled around in between them. Frowning internally, Cale can’t help but dread at the conclusion.
‘Ugh, this room furnishing, the way she dressed, that temperament, the boy’s reaction… Please don’t let it be what I think it is… ‘
Shivering from his own speculation, Cale tried to pacify himself with other likely possibilities that he favors more.
‘Yes.. calm down Cale. She might have just been into cosplay, or perhaps she just likes to dress like that for no particular reason. That is a possibility, after all, such fashion seems to be popular on the internet back then.’
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While Cale is occupied by his own thought, the woman finally makes her move after a pregnant silence. She seems to be in trace more so than surprised seeing the boy. It’s like she was genuinely confused, with no understanding of why the kid was located here in this room.
Then that expression quickly turned into anger as she’s approaching the corner where he and the boy are located. By then Cale highly suspected that the red-haired boy is her son, seeing the way she gives no pretense on what to do with this boy whom Cale guessed to have violated some rule, which automatically makes her his mother also, fucking GREAT.
‘Let’s just hope… his mother is just a regular strict parent and will never pass that imaginary boundary of toxicity.’
Cale thought while flabbing his cubby arm and babbling random noises in an attempt to act cute, so that perhaps, even though it’s only - a 0.01% chance, their mother will be thawed from her wrath. Though no sooner than later, it was proven to be useless as she finally arrived in front of the toddler with piercing stares and a disappointed expression.
“Riddle”
“Why are you here?”
“...”